1 - The Notes of a Naturalist

A Country Year - The Notes of a Naturalist.

January 1st to January 18th

From the Bury Free Press William Howlett (1894)

January 16th. - Now that the frost has gone and the snow water run off, pike, roach, dace and perch ought to be well on the feed, especially where there is a little colour in the water. Our birds are, I am sure, glad to see the ground clear of snow and frost, and quite a revelling they were having on some grass grounds as I drove along the turnpike road this day to Icklingham, especially the fieldfares. I think I never saw more. There must have been several thousands of them. These birds do a great deal of good to the lands they work over, especially after a frost, Countless thousands of grubs and insects of all kinds, wireworms, &c., they devour. In fact, so long as they can find insect food they prefer it to berries or grain.

From the Bury Free Press William Howlett (1895)

January 3rd. - Among our birds we have enormous flocks of fieldfares, redwings, bramblings, and snow buntings, and really the great quantity of the finch family far exceeds anything I have ever seen before.

January 16th. - "Its just as well not to crow before you get well out of the wood." A very good old adage is this, and one that oftentimes fits us all. We began to think there would be no winter, as everything was warm and beautiful up to Christmas Day. Certainly none of us bargained for deep snows, and frozen waters. Now it has come we must make the best of it, and be thankful it's no worse.

From the Bury Free Press William Howlett (1896)

January 8th. - We certainly are gliding nicely over the winter so far, and I think really we have very much to be thankful for in this respect. It may not be quite so healthy, perhaps, but just the weather to suit the masses of the poorer classes. I am satisfied of one thing, we cannot stand the severe weather of the old winters. See the terrible havoc that was made last winter after the six weeks' frost. I can quite understand that my skating friends feel disappointed. There is yet plenty of time for skating. I, for one, prefer seeing the flowers budding out, and the grass looking green and fresh.

In a long walk I had from Flint Cottage to West Stow one day last week I counted over a hundred pair of partridges mated. I certainly never remember seeing such an unusual occurrence before, at this time of the season, although on some estates where they lay warm I have seen a pair or two mated late in January. It seems almost a pity to shoot them when they are paired off, and good sportsmen would hesitate before so doing. I now that grand old sportsman, the late Duke of Rutland, would not allow a bird to be shot on his estate as soon as he saw them coming over the guns in pairs.

Bird, fish, crops, flowers, trees, &c., are all the same this season - quite months beforehand. What will happen if the weather sets in severe is a rather serious question for all parties concerned. All we hope is that it will not be severe. If it is severe "good bye" to the first crop and lots of other things. However we cannot control the laws and rules of nature, neither is it right we should do so, and I question whether if we had the ordering of the weather, we should improve on it. There would be plenty of grumblers found as now, and things would not go any better, I am sure.

A Country Year - The Notes of a Naturalist.

January 1st to January 18th

The extraordinary mildness makes a great difference to our birds. I have blackbirds, thrushes, and finches, in my Flint Cottage Grounds, at Barton Mills, that have been singing beautifully for several weeks past, and from my study I have been greatly amused to watch a pair of sparrows building in the corner of the verandah. Several thrushes' nests have been found, half built, in some of the warm and cosy fir plantations near Thetford and Mildenhall. This I am not surprised at. Anyone who has walked through these warm and sheltered woods of many miles of of spruce and fir must have thought at once what a lovely place for birds to live in and build. Our old friends the rooks have been busy a long time repairing their home of sticks in the big elm tree. Taking it in all, the season is an extraordinary one.

From the Bury Free Press William Howlett (1898)

January 11th. - I never remember a more lovely day than was Thursday, the 6th. The bees, butterflies, gnats, and swarms of other insects were buzzing about as if it was the middle of spring instead of winter, and aconites, snowdrops, daffodils, primroses, and other spring flowers, were bursting into bloom. I expect we shall drop in for it when the frost does come, if so we shall be very sorry to see the beautiful flowers cut down.

Complaints from several places have reached me respecting the immense quantity of larks that are swarming over the newly sown corn fields. I doubt whether anyone ever remembers seeing half so many larks as we have this season. One of the first laws of nature is to find food. So it is with the larks. They migrate to our shores in absolute millions from France, Germany, Holland, and other places, and their favourite spot is a newly-sown field of wheat. They go along the drills in swarms, and pick off the new sprouts of the grain as they go. Well, this is certainly a very serious matter for the farmers, and questions are now being asked how to deal with them.

From the Bury Free Press William Howlett (1898)

January 18th. - The extraordinary mildness of the season has not only brought on our flowers and crops unusually early, but its effects are clearly evident among the birds. In a long walk I had from Flint Cottage to West Stow one day last week I counted over a hundred pair of partridges mated. I certainly never remember seeing such an unusual occurrence before, at this time of the season, although on some estates where they lay warm I have seen a pair or two mated late in January. It seems almost a pity to shoot them when they are paired off, and good sportsmen would hesitate before so doing. I now that grand old sportsman, the late Duke of Rutland, would not allow a bird to be shot on his estate as soon as he saw them coming over the guns in pairs.

A Country Year - The Notes of a Naturalist.

January 1st to January 18th

We are all pleased to hear when anything is likely to be done to benefit our rural districts, even if its in the way of Natural History. I am very pleased to be able to state, I think upon good authority, efforts will be made shortly to try and introduce once again on our great heaths and warrens the great bustard. This is a magnificent bird, and one that many years since used to breed, and thrive well upon the wild tracts of rabbit warrens, and heath lands of East Anglia.

I noticed last Friday, the first family of the long-tailed tits I have seen this winter. There were thirteen of them, and from my library at Flint Cottage I had a long view of them as they were hunting through the shrubs and trees in my grounds. I counted several pairs of bullfinches, cole tits, and blue tits, all busy hunting for insects amongst the fruit and other trees. They make a pretty picture, and it is very interesting to watch them, especially when you can do so quietly and undisturbed.

From the Bury Post William Howlett (1899)

January 4th. - I do not hold with killing off owls, hawks, eagles, otters, polecats, &co., unnecessarily. All these birds and animals help make a beautiful picture in nature, and as I have often stated in these and other papers, its the killing of so many of the birds of prey that cause such a tremendous increase in sparrows, linnets, and other small birds. It is simply a case of nature outbalanced.

I am pleased to hear the eagle seen some weeks since in the neighbourhood of Newmarket is still alive, and looks happy enough soaring about across the heath and fens. What a magnificent bird he looks on the wing.

We are still very much below the normal level of our water shed all through the country, and I am rather afraid our brooks and rivulets are likely to remain dry for a long time to come. Snow is the only thing which will do all we require, and if the weather prophets are to be relied upon we are to have a very heavy downfall before long.

From the Bury Post William Howlett (1899)

January 18th - In all my experiences I think I never remember such terrible and continued hurricane weather as we have had for nearly a fortnight. Some days, such as Thursday last, the 12th inst., it was hardly safe to venture out, and I question if it was over safe inside the house. The papers are full of terrible accidents in all parts of the country, occasioned by the wind; and there has been a general destruction of property from one end of the land to the other. Great trees that have stood the test for many years have been snapped off like tinder, and many garden reduced to a complete wreck. Fruit and other trees have been torn down off walls, creepers and shrubs uprooted, conservatories shattered, buildings blown over, stacks, of hay, straw, and corn, swept clean away and scattered long distances across the fields.

The birds must have had a very bad time of it. I could hear them on Thursday night, the 12th, flying over in wild confusion and despair. Geese, ducks, divers, curlews, grebe, and many others were being driven with relentless fury before the gale, and when a lull in the terrific wind took place you could distinctly hear their wild cries of trouble. Many were brought to me the following day. The poor things must have had an awful night of it. In some parts of the fen districts I believe an immense deal of damage was done.

A Country Year - The Notes of a Naturalist.

January 1st to January 18th

Cattle in some parts were so terrified by the debris being driven against them, that they made a stampede, and from reports sent to me several have been found drowned or lost. We have had storms and hurricanes at different times, but not of such long duration.

It must have been an awful night at sea, and some faint idea of the terrible force of wind may be gathered from the extraordinary force we experienced from it on land. Trains blown over, carts lifted bodily and thrown a considerable distance, and cruel hissing and shrieking of the invisible wind will never be forgotten.

Possibly these great winds may blow us up a lot of snow. I cannot say I like snow, but I know it is wanted badly. We are as near, as I can calculate, nearly two feet below our proper water level, notwithstanding the rains we have had. There is plenty of time yet for snow, and I know the old school of farmers always liked to see their wheat land buried some inches under the snow for a week or two about February.

In our gardens everything is very forward. I was surprised to find lots of snowdrops, scillas, primroses, and other spring flowers in full bloom.

I was greatly interested also as I stood in my boathouse for half-an-hour out of the rain to see a party of kingfishers come in and perch over my head on one of the cross beams. This perch is evidently their well-known one in wet weather. Several pairs of dab chicks I noticed sailing about on one of my pools in the grounds. A pair of spotted water-rails have within the last week taken up their abode in a quiet nook of one of the cuttings that run from my trout pool. They are, I think, the most charming little birds I have seen there.

From the Bury Post William Howlett (1900)

January 10th. - Quite a treat once again to see our streams and rivers running full of water. Many a long day since I saw the pretty Red Lodge stream so full, and running so merrily again under the boughs of the overhanging bushes on the stream. For some time I stood and watched the thrushes, blackbirds, starlings, and other birds, as they were enjoying their bath, and singing out their sweet notes on Friday last, as the sun gleamed out warm and cheerful upon them by the brook side. I believe birds of all kinds delight to be near running water, even the tiny little wren, or tom-tit.

How our trout and dace will revel in this beautiful fresh run of water. Just the thing they wanted, and I shall not be surprised to hear of many of them forming their bed in the Freckenham stream instead of staying in the deeper waters of the Lark. Quantities of pike, I notice, are working their way up from the sluggish waters of the Cam and Ouse to the sharper waters of the River Lark.

Four if not more otters have been seen during the last few days working up near the Cavenham stream.

Great flocks of wild birds continue to pass to and from between the fen lands and the higher grounds. I saw on Sunday last, and several days previous, immense lots of geese, ducks, swans, divers, and other shore birds, going over from the Mildenhall district.

From the Bury Post William Howlett (1901)

January 9th. - We have had just a little touch of winter since my notes of last week, and if the weather prophets are to be relied upon we are to have a month or two of real severe weather both frost and snow.

A Country Year - The Otter.

January 1st to January 18th

Sunday morning last, the 6th, was very sharp, and when driving over to my snug little parish church at Barton Mills, I felt like the birds, a bit nipped up and cold. I did not forget my feathered friends before I started. I collected all the pieces of bread and vegetables I could find and mixed a few handfuls of wheat and seed in with it and gave the poor little things a real good feed on the lawns in front of Lord Mayor's Cottage.

Skating is in full swing in the fen districts, the wash lands being covered with ice nearly two inches thick. Immense flocks of wild geese, ducks, also many swans and other fen birds, are to be seen along the course of the rivers and open waters.

From Observations on the Fauna of Norfolk by the Rev. Richard Lubbock (1845) - The Otter was formerly very common upon our rivers and broads, and is still more frequent than it appears. Sir T. Browne, in his Letters on the Natural History of Norfolk, notices the abundance of this animal. I perpetually find a seal of the Otter in a small river in which I am in the habit of fishing between Larlingford and Thetford, but I have never seen an Otter there. Ten minutes examination of Otters at the Zoological gardens, when in a state of activity, will convince an observer of the perfect power of concealment which this large animal possesses. It emerges from the water rather like an eel than a quadruped. With a momentary noiseless wriggle, it is seated on the margin of the tank, and replunges, without more commotion of the element than might be caused by a small pebble. It is in my opinion far more common even at this day than it first appears. The nearest approach made by the Otter, in my recollection, to the city of Norwich, was some twenty years back, when several took up residence in the willow carr behind Cringleford mill. Some years back, one particular marsh between Rockland broad and the Yare was a favourite haunt of otters. A old man, who used to fish and cut reeds on the broad, told me that on a warm sun-shiny afternoon he had often seen two or three playing together. He described them as very frolicsome animals, and in their gambols on dry land showing great agility, and resembling the dog in their actions.

From The Zoologist G. T. Pope (1888) - The slow-running muddy Suffolk rivers seem to have some special attraction for Otters, possibly from the great abundance of eels; and of late years these animals have, for some reason, been more frequently met with than was the case some twenty years or thirty years back. This is hardly what circumstances would lead one to expect, as many of their old strongholds are gone. The venerable pollard-ash trees, hollow with age, which supplied our forefathers with firewood, are year on year disappearing. Ancient alders, too, under whose big spreading boles were admirable retreats for Otters are gradually dying out without successors, the few trees planted singly for many years back by the riverside, and about low meadows, being in most places either poplars or willows.

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